...And the House

October 31, 1978

JOSEPH L FISHER has built an impressive record in his two terms as the 10th District's congressman. He sits in two crucial committees, Ways and Means, and Budget, putting him in the middle of nearly every major issue of the past Congress - Taxation, federal spending, Social Security financing and energy policy. He has consistently argued and voted for moderation and good economic judgment. His Republican opponent, Frank R. Wolf, has called for sharp restraints on public spending. But Mr. Fisher clearly has a superior grasp of the budget and tax issues, as they will be handled in the next Congress, and he deserves re-election.

In the Eighth District, the two candidates for Congress are vying in their expressions of support for Metro. The difference is that the incumbent congressman, Herbert E. Harris, a Democrat, has been a vigorous backer of Metro for years, while John F. Herrity, Republican, is a very recent convert. Mr. Herrity's campaign is otherwise deeply dismaying. He keeps pledging to push a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget - the kind of economic fundamentalism that, in a recession, would be a a real menace. Mr. Harris sometimes speaks, and votes, faster than he thinks. But he does a good job of representing his district on the matters that touch it directly, and he is open to argument. Voters who are suspicious of political dogmatism - as we are - would do better to stick with him.